8.8 percent hike in La Mesa water rates proposed

Helix district expected 13% rise, official says

LA MESA  A rate hike averaging 8.8 percent is being proposed for Helix Water District customers – but officials say they can thank the wet winter for preventing an increase that could have been even higher.

The district board on a 3-2 vote Wednesday decided to move forward with the higher rates. ﻿District customers will soon be getting notices about an Aug. 18 public hearing on the increase. If approved, the higher rate would show up on customers’ November bills.

Helix officials say a typical customer’s bimonthly bill would increase by $10.06, from $113.66 to $123.72. Customers who use more water would see higher increases.

General Manager Mark Weston said the district had expected a 13 percent increase this year, but Helix’s local water supply at Lake Cuyamaca and other sources was greater because of the region’s recent rainfall.

“We had some bounty from the skies,” he said.

Last year, homeowners with large lots criticized the district when it tried to set up a new rate structure that charged higher rates to customers who used more water. Officials modified the plan and delayed it by a month. To make up for the delay, the district took $1.4 million from a $3.8 million fund that Helix has set aside to help reduce the additional amount customers must pay.

District officials sought to replenish the fund this year, a move that was opposed by board members Kathleen Hedberg and De Ana Verbeke. They said the fund should be paid back over several years, an option that would have reduced the latest rate hike to 6.4 percent. Both voted against the rate increase.

Board member Chuck Muse said the district should have money in the fund to cover future rate increases.

“Should we get in a position next year, that money is going to be available,” he said.

Future rate increases appear to be inevitable, district officials say. The cost of the water that Helix buys from the San Diego County Water Authority is going up 18 percent this year, and is expected to increase 13.6 percent in 2012. Increases for the three years after that are predicted to range from 7.6 percent to 8.6 percent.

Finance Manager Rich Stevenson said the district is taking several steps to save money in its $64.5 million budget for 2010-11. Operating and administrative costs have not increased, and nine jobs are not being filled, he said.